Moments in a Cave
by Uncle Charlie
Summary: Napoleon and an injured Illya take refuge in a cave and Napoleon tries to keep them both safe from THRUSH. No warnings. This is a gift for Sutherwinds


"Ugh."

"You're awake." Napoleon was instantly there at Illya's side, supporting his head. "Try not to move too much."

"What happened? THRUSH? Booby trap?"

"You fell out of a tree." Napoleon helped him into a semi recumbent position.

Illya brought up a hand to touch the knot on his head. "I did what?"

"Not so loud. There are THRUSH everywhere. What hurts?"

Illya shifted and hissed. "My leg… and hip. And my head… a little."

"Try not to move too much. I think it might be broken."

"My head? Makes sense."

"Your hip, idiot, although you might well have a concussion to boot. What do you remember?" The blond was quiet for a long time and Napoleon shifted anxiously. "Illya?"

"I'm thinking. I remember escaping and running into the forest. Were dogs chasing us?"

"Some of those THRUSH were pretty ugly, but I wouldn't go so far as to call them dogs. What else?"

"I don't." Illya's hand came back up to his head. "What did happen?"

"We escaped, swam a moat, took some fire but managed to get into the woods without incident. I radioed home and you climbed a tree so you could get a bearing on our position. I heard a yell and came in to discover you and a branch on the ground."

"When was that?"

"Oh, about four hours and two thunderstorms ago." A crack of lightning interrupted him. "Make that three thunderstorms. At least it's kept THRUSH at bay. Even they aren't stupid enough to fly in this weather. I found this cave and so here we sit."

Illya leaned against him and looked back. "What do you want to do?"

"What do you mean?" Napoleon tried to ignore the clamminess of Illya's skin. It was humid in the cave and the air seemed thick and heavy. Napoleon was all too aware that Illya might be in shock.

"You need to leave. The mission…"

"The mission can wait. Illya, you can't move, you certainly couldn't defend yourself. I'm not sure what exactly has come sniffing around the cave entrance, but I'm not taking any chances."

"You need to get that microdot to UNCLE."

"I'm not leaving you." Napoleon shifted so that Illya was resting against their backpacks. He went to the mouth of the cave and looked out into the dark.

"I have a gun."

"That's reassuring. And how do you propose to feed yourself? Or get water? And I'm not leaving you here for THRUSH to find either. We are going to sit tight and wait for reinforcements." A long rumble of thunder drowned him out. "Although, that might be a while." Illya grunted as he attempted to drag himself up into a sitting position and Napoleon settled a restraining arm across his chest. "Sit still."

"Just trying to find a position that doesn't hurt."

"Would you like some water?"

"Do you have any painkillers?"

"Not until I know you don't have a concussion." Napoleon aimed the beam of a small flashlight into Illya's face. He blinked and looked away. "See?"

"Give me some warning next time," Illya snapped. He sat still as Napoleon repeated the process.

"Your pupils are still reacting. That's a good sigh. Any nausea?"

"No." He winced at the crack of thunder. "Ouch."

"Well, this is against my better judgment." Napoleon reached into his kit and, unseen, fished out a small foil packet and grabbed his canteen. Illya looked at the packet for a moment and passed it back.

"Going to pass on the pills?"

"Look again." Illya mustered a thin smile. "I'm not going to need one of those for a while."

Napoleon shone the beam on the packet and smiled as he tucked the condom away. "Sorry, my mistake." He tried again and checked the packet this time. "Here you go."

Illya took the pills and leaned back against the packs. It resulted in a hiss of pain and Napoleon moved quickly.

"Here, let me." Napoleon placed a hand in Illya's back to help keep him upright as he pulled the packs away and settled in behind Illya. "I'm a little less lumpy."

"Thanks."

"All part of the service I offer."

"You need to leave the minute the storm breaks. I'm serious, Napoleon. I will be fine."

"Uh, huh, we'll talk about that later."

A loud crack woke Napoleon and he froze. There were shadows playing across the front of the cave and Napoleon didn't like the looks of them.

Illya was out for the count and Napoleon felt as if he had a sack of wet cement piled on top of him.

"Sorry, old friend." Napoleon shoved Illya aside and slipped out, easing him to the ground.

Illya moaned and Napoleon clamped a hand over his mouth.

"Illya, be still."

"In here!" The voice echoed and Napoleon winced.

"Not good news," he muttered as he checked his weapon's clip.

"Napoleon, leave me," Illya muttered.

"No."

"I can't move. I will be the distraction. You need to get away."

"I won't let them have you."

"Napoleon, your duty is to UNCLE now, not me. I'm expendable. Waverly would be the first to tell you that."

"To hell with Waverly."

"Oh, he isn't going to be pleased to hear that, Solo."

Napoleon spun at the voice, his gun up, only to check himself at the last minute. He shook his head and lowered the weapon at the sight of a fellow Section Two agent. "Nelson, you almost got a ventilated torso."

"It's what all the well dressed THRUSH are wearing this year."

"Do tell?"

"We left a trail of them so we wouldn't have trouble finding our way out. Their satrapy went down about an hour ago. You did manage to get the info, I hope."

"We did."

"Excellent. " Nelson knelt by Illya.

"You took your sweet time getting here," Illya said.

"You're a fine one to talk. Shot?" Nelson asked, pulling out his communicator.

"Worse, a broken hip," Napoleon mumbled, as he waved to a trio of UNCLE agents as they entered.

"We have to carry this slacker out?" Nelson asked. "Peachy."

"Could be worse," Illya snapped.

"How?"

"It could be Napoleon. I weigh at least twenty five pounds less than him."

"Fifteen," Napoleon countered.

"Twenty."

"Fifteen, at the most. Of all the ingrates… at least I'm not short." He smiled at Illya's grunt. The day was starting to look up.


End file.
